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Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Green Book Movie and Original 1940 Book Discussion Questions for Book Groups

This is a second in #TheNewBookReview's new series of discussion questions on books and book-related movies from a great supporter of this blog, Carolyn Wilhelm. (She's the one who makes our fun badges for authors who participate by submitting their fave reviews!). It seems a great service for #teachers, #parents, #bookclubs, and more. Carolyn is a great resource for similar aids on Pinterest where some of her products are absolutely free! As is this one!

The movie,
The Green Book, took place in 1962. Have you seen it? It is similar to but so
different from Driving Miss Daisy, as
a white man chauffeurs a gifted black pianist to concerts in the south. As it
was Jim Crow times and they cross the Mason-Dixon line, their many encounters
and experiences change the white driver’s thinking about the difficulty of
being black (even if well to do) at that time. Sometimes the characters could
not stay in the same hotel or eat in the same restaurant. This movie shows a
change of heart as it teaches about those times. Did you know the movie is from
the real-life experiences ofAfrican American classical
and jazz pianist Don Shirley and Italian
AmericanbouncerFrank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga.
I didn’t realize one the screenwriter was one of Tony’s children. The script
was based on letters written at the time, and also interviews. Of course, artistic
license was taken in a few cases, and there is a little controversy about a few
points.

During the
same year the movie represents, my family drove from Minnesota to Arkansas to
attend a grandmother’s funeral. Closer to the south, my sisters and I were
hungry, and there were few places to eat along the way. We spotted a
restaurant, and my father got out of the car. He didn’t park up close to the
door, which I still remember as being somewhat odd. He walked over, turned
around, got back in the car and drove away. “Why,” we asked, almost in tears.
He told us they only served white people and we were not eating there.

My whole family
was white. Maybe we needed a Green Book for our trip. I’m sure my father used
the AAA Travel service, but they probably didn’t think to advise him the same
what they advised black people at the time. The books sounds nice until it
becomes apparent they are very short.

That was the
summer I learned about Jim Crow as it was in the south up close and personal,
which left a lasting influence on my life. Of course, Jim Crow was everywhere
in different forms. At the time, I did not know The Negro Motorist Green-Book.
I’m glad to learn of it later in my life so people could avoid awkward or
humiliating experiences. It was written each year with the hope it would become
unnecessary. Victor
H. Green (1892 – 1960) was a postal carrier living in Harlem when he created
the first of his annual Green Books in 1936.The last edition was in 1967, two years after the Voting Rights Act of
1965 became law.

Did you know
you can download copies to read for yourself, as well as purchase a 1940 Facsimile Edition on Amazon?
Fifty-three whole pages for traveling the entire nation. Hmmm. I did buy that
one on Amazon as well as review several free downloads. Here is what I found.

The Smithsonian
Digital Volunteers Transcription Center has one year of the book published in
the National Museum of African American History and Culture as a free download. Links
to other placed it may be viewed and downloaded are also listed on the page.

The University
of South Carolina also has a free download for the 1956
Green Book at this link. Both sites have viewers, and I’m aware of other
sites that offer viewing or downloads as well.

The book as
a primary source document is in many lessons for secondary schools. It is not a
book to sit and read, though, it is a book to ponder and realize what was going
on in plain sight that many people didn’t understand.

1. Is every state included in the lists?
What are your thoughts on why or why not?2. What
are the fewest services for a state listed? Discuss the ramifications of
traveling through such a state.Is every state included in the lists? What are your thoughts on why or why not?3. Is every state included in the lists? What are your thoughts on why or why not?4.What is the most popular category in
the book: restaurants, gas stations, recreation parks, taverns, liquor stores,
garages (service stations), barber shops, hotels, nightclubs, road houses, country
clubs, taxis, drugstores, and beauty shops? Why is that the most popular
category?5.What kind of advertising does the
Green Book have?6.There is information on how to send a
story about using the Green Book for possible publication and five dollars. Describe
the story requirements.7.What do you notice about the text travel
guide pages? What kinds of things are described that might not be in other
travel guides?8.How do you think this would compare
to other travel guides?9.What cities have the most services? And
even includes things like dance halls, tailors, millinery, and maybe a
haberdasher?10. Why is a key to Manhattan street numbers
included? 11. Why do you think there are no maps?12. Ferry and Tunnel rates for passenger cards are
listed. Why would this information be needed ahead of time?13. Points of interest in New York City
are listed. What is the possible implication of including this list?14. How do the different editions for
the different years compare?15. What did you learn or realize from
looking through this book?

3. Although Don
Shirley did not personally know Tony Vallelonga, he hired him anyway. Why?

4. What did you
think of Shirley asking Tony’s wife for permission to take him on tour?

5. Do you feel
the events in the story are true to life, and why?

6. Who is
holding the Green Book copy of the
paperback in the film? Why?

7. Do you think
perhaps other groups had similar travel guides then and perhaps now? Do you
know of any such guides?

8. Did you
previously know about sundown towns?

9. How do they deal
with different rules when they both cannot eat or sleep in the same location?

10. Do you think
Jim Crow was worse in the south than elsewhere? Do you think Jim Crow was
actually everywhere and still is in many ways, or do you think society has
improved?

11. The Green Book is based on interviews as
well as letters written during the tour. Did you realize the movie was based on
real-life before or after viewing? How does knowing it is a true story affect
your feelings about the film?

12. There is
some controversy surrounding the film. Many films based on true life have to be
adjusted for the story to be conveyed through sight and sound. Did you feel it
represented the actual truth? Do you think it deserved the many awards it won?

13. Why do you
think Don Shirley wanted it released after his death?

14. How does
Tony help Don in some specific situations? Do you think the tour would have
been successful without Tony? Do you think without calling Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy the story would have turned out the same way?

15. Tony gets
home for Christmas but not because he can finish the drive through the snow.
How does the film end?

16. Don Shirley’s
degrees in real life were honorary. Do you think in another era they would have
been earned?

17. The film is
said to show a white savior. Do you feel that is true or do you believe the two
men became friends? The family says they had a professional relationship only,
but there are videos revealing friendship. Either way, is it important to the
film?

18. Would you
recommend the film to others? Why or why not?

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